New Cosponsor, But Still No Agreement on Zadroga on Spending Bill

IAVA received word today that Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) has added her name to the long list of the Zadroga Act’s 262 cosponsors. The IAVA Legislative Team met with her office just a few days ago to request her support.

This success comes against the backdrop of continued work behind the scenes at the House and Senate leadership level to craft an omnibus spending bill that will fund the federal government through the rest of Fiscal Year 2016, which has to be passed by Dec. 11.

We are still seeking the inclusion of the Zadroga Act in the spending bill. Although optimism has been expressed by bill sponsors, there continues to be some disagreement over how to pay for the measure. The ongoing negotiations may benefit from the news that it looks like Congress is likely to pass a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open for a few days past this week while final agreements are made regarding the larger funding measure.

Also late today, the IAVA Legislative Team met with the office of Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) to request cosponsorship, and showed him the number of 9/11 first responders and victims who came from, or resettled in, his Congressional District, as we do with all offices. We are hoping for Rep. Yoho’s support soon!

How you can help: IAVA has set up a “Take Action” web page, to be updated daily, for our veterans and supporters to ask their Members of Congress to support the bill. The page, iava.org/zadroga, lists all current cosponsors of the measure. If your representatives in DC aren’t yet on the bill, click here to email your members of Congress.